


It's christmas Friends

by Pandaora



Series: Mystery people all around [5]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Red Hood/Arsenal (Comics)
Genre: A bit sad?, Christmas, Lian Is Precious, M/M, Maybe - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-13 05:08:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28897932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pandaora/pseuds/Pandaora
Summary: Jason is trying to escape the christmas celebrations in his safehouse. Or he tries avoid being a dick.
Relationships: Roy Harper/Jason Todd
Series: Mystery people all around [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1836892
Kudos: 12





	It's christmas Friends

**Author's Note:**

> It's the very late, not anticipated christmas chapter!! WHOO!!  
> This takes place a while after the "December 13th is bullshit" story thingy.  
> I don't know if I need to tag this any more but if I do, tell me in the comments.

Yup. Red Hood hated,  _ hated _ , Gotham winters. But running on rooftops is better than staying at home and disappointing the sweetest child in existence.    
Lian loves Christmas, and her excitement for it makes Roy excited too. Red Hood didn’t want to be the gloom. Just because he wasn’t thrilled about christmas, it didn’t mean that he’d drag Lian and Roy down with him.    
  
They say crime doesn’t sleep. Crime doesn’t take breaks or holidays. But tonight, it seemed like it did. Barely anything was happening, and for once, it wasn’t unnerving.    
  
Red Hood stopped on a rooftop, finding it useless to waste his energy looking for something that clearly isn’t there, only to be  _ out _ of energy once he actually finds something.   
  
“I was wondering when you’d stop running around like like a chicken without a head.”    
Red Hood exhaled deeply.    
  
“What do you want Horus? Don’t you have a christmas or whatever to celebrate? Someone to spend today with?”   
Red hood heard the other click his tongue. Horus was soon standing next to him.   
  
“I think you know that I don’t. Also. I don’t celebrate anything. Sometimes I celebrate Jul on the 21st, but eh. That’s if I’m invited. As it is, I am not, in fact, invited. Also. Today happens to be the day my father was born.  _ He _ wasn’t a fan of our lord and saviour Jesus Christ.” The way Horus said the title was mockingly. “Therefore, his birth is nothing to celebrate. My father, on the other hand. A certain being that is worthy of celebration. I celebrate him by staying alive. If he asks any more of me he needs to go ahead and find a new son.” Horus chuckled. “Your turn. What are you doing here? It’s a bit early to be running patrols, don’t you think?”    
  
“I’ve got nothing better to do.” Red Hood lied.    
He could be at home right now. Spending time with Roy and Lian.    
Horus hummed and took a seat.    
  
“I find it hard to believe that a charming fellow such as yourself is alone on a day such as this.  _ I _ think you’re escaping. Ironically running from something.” Horus said and looked up at Red Hood. “You don’t like christmas either. Do you?”    
Red Hood glared down at the other from under his hood, but then sighed and took a seat next to him.   
  
“I don’t hate it. I suppose. Just never had a reason to…  _ Like _ it. You know?”    
Horus looked out over the city with a small smile.    
  
“I get that… Did something happen? Or?”   
  
“Why? So you can sell the information later?”   
Horus scoffed.   
  
“Bitch, I’m on holiday. I may not celebrate it, but that doesn’t mean I’m not gonna take advantage of the perks it brings. I just want to know. Personally. I’m not working today.”   
They sat in silence for a while.    
Red Hood liked that. It was comforting.    
  
“Guess I never experienced the joys of christmas? I don’t know.” Red Hood exhaled deeply. “My family never had money.” He made a point to leave out the fact that he got adopted later. “I know everyone says it’s not about gifts. First of all. They just say that because they actually  _ get  _ gifts. Second of all. If you can’t get gifts, then you’ll at least have food or company. I had nothing. Dad was a drunk that spent all of our money on alcohol. He only saw christmas as a good excuse to not correct his behaviour. He had a reason to act the way he did, apparently. When  _ he  _ was out of the picture, mom was a drug addict that spent our money on drugs. We only ate with the money  _ I  _ managed to hide from her. And- And… And on good days she’d promise it’d be different this year. It never was.”   
Hours didn’t say anything, waiting for Red Hood to continue. Direct the conversation. “I didn’t stay home at Christmas if I could help it… I wandered the streets all night so I wouldn’t be home. My gift to myself. There was a place I  _ could _ go though.” Red Hood turned his head to look at Horus. “A place where it was warm and where I wouldn’t be judged for being a ‘street rat’.”

Horus tilted his head, indicating that he was paying attention. “Church.”   
Hours’ mouth edged up, soon breaking out into a smile that showed his teeth. He started laughing.    
  
“Well I’ll be damned. And here I’ve been spitting on christianity like there’s no tomorrow.”   
Red Hood shrugged.   
  
“Don’t worry. I’m not a christian. I was just a kid who enjoyed not almost freezing to death. It didn’t make me see the light. Just made me a bit more convinced that life ain’t so bad.”   
  
“So why are you running on rooftops instead of sitting on a bench in church?”   
  
“Arsenal… He likes christmas. This was the best excuse I could come up with to get away from his holiday spirits… He knows about my past and how I’ve lived. He knows why I went to church. Telling him that I’d go there would worry him.”   
  
“But you don’t want to lie so you went and actually did what you said you’d do?”   
  
“Something like that.”   
  
They sat in silence again. Horus started humming something, then sighed.    
“As much as I enjoy your company, hoodie… You should head back home. Nothing is going on tonight. For once. You should spend this time with Arsenal. Being alone on christmas when you can help it is just sad.”   
  
“Says you?”   
Hours giggled.   
  
“Hood.” he started and stood up, glancing down at Red Hood’s form. “I  _ can’t  _ help it. I have no one.” he continued with a smile. The words kinda stung. “But  _ you _ do. You have Arsenal. And as far as I can tell, he’s a pretty sweet dude.”   
  
“And what will you do?”   
Horus shrugged.    
  
“Get drunk? Maybe? Just go to sleep? We’ll see whichever comes first. Or maybe I’ll keep an eye out for something interesting. Who knows. Trust the fates to lead me somewhere.”   
  
“Which of those three is more likely to happen?”   
  
“Honestly? None of them. I’ve gotten pretty good at crying into my pillow at christmas in my youth, Maybe I’ll go back to my roots in the spirit of christmas?” Horus sighed, “Hood? You’re not alone anymore. You don’t have to go to church to find comfort anymore. Try to make Christmas something to look forward to. Give yourself the peace that your childhood never got. Go to Arsenal and spend time with him. Show  _ him _ that  _ he’s  _ not alone, and he’ll do the same to you. I know he will.”   
Red Hood hummed a little and his heart warmed a little at the thought of Arsenal and his daughter.    
But he didn’t like that Horus encouraged him to find company while implying that he’ll be alone and miserable himself.   
  
“If I go back to him… Do you want to come along?”   
Horus giggled.    
  
“Hood. You wouldn’t risk your secret identities. Especially not to me. It’s a sweet thought, but I’ve been alone before. It won’t bother me.”   
Strangely enough, the smile he offered was somewhat comforting and assuring. Horus turned to leave but before he could get too far, he turned around and asked. “Did you like the Glögg?”   
  
Red Hood was a bit surprised. He had figured that Horus would have been too drunk to remember their encounter. He chuckled a little and stood up.    
“Too sweet for my liking. Sticky and… Weird. Not exactly  _ bad _ . But it wasn’t good either.”   
  
“I love it when we’re on the same page. Another vote for ‘Glögg is overrated and Swedes are weird.’ If--  _ When _ I meet my boyfriend again, I’ll be sure to pass on the message.”    
Horus grinned and gave a small wave before hopping away and disappearing in his usual manner.    
Red Hood went his own way, maybe intentionally taking a longer route home.    
  
He sat on a rooftop opposite of the safehouse they were staying in and saw Roy and Lian. He smiled under his hood. They were playing a boardgame and Lian looked so excited. She had dressed up extra prettily for christmas. An adorable little santa dress. Roy had braided her hair and the braids stuck out from underneath the santa hat.    
Roy hadn’t dressed up, but apparently Lian had wanted him make  _ some  _ effort, because he had braids in his hair too. They were all smiles and it warmed Red hood’s heart. It made him question why he had tried to escape them. Then he remembered why.    
Would it be cowardly to try to leave again?    
  
‘ _ Yes. _ ’ he decided. ‘ _ Yes it would. _ ’   
Exhaling deeply, he gathered courage to join his not boyfriend and said not boyfriend’s daughter.    
He entered through his bedroom window and changed out of his gear, then went into the livingroom.    
  
“JayJay!!” Lian exclaimed when she spotted him. She dropped everything at once and ran to hug Jason. Jason chuckled and hugged back.    
  
“Heya, princess. How was your evening?”   
  
“Amazing!! Where  _ were _ you?? You missed gifts!” Lian asked with a small adorable little pout.   
  
“I’m sorry, Lian. I had to work. But I’m here now. Want to show me what you got?”   
Lian nodded and ran to gather her new things. Jason sat down next to Roy and smiled. Roy lifted his hand to reveal a bracelet.    
  
“I am  _ never  _ taking this off.” Roy stated. The bracelet had mismatched beads and some letters spelling ‘Dadi’ with a small heart. Jason chuckled. “I mean it Jason. We can do the nasty and this thing stays  _ on _ or you can forget it.”    
  
“It’s beautiful, Roy. Why would I want you to remove it?”    
‘ _ Although it’s a moodkiller. _ ’   
Roy’s grin was to die for.    
  
“Busy night?”   
Jason shrugged.   
  
“Not really. But the night is still young.”   
Roy hummed and grabbed Jason’s hand.    
  
“You okay? I mean… I know this isn’t exactly your favourite holiday.”    
  
“I’m fine. I met a-”    
‘ _ What is he…? Can I consider him a friend…? _ ’   
“I met a familiar face while I was out. He talked me straight.”   
  
“Oh I should hope not.” Roy laughed.   
  
“Oh fuck you. You know what I mean.”   
  
“ _ Language  _ JayJay!!” Lian said, now back with her opened gifts.   
  
“Sorry, Princess. I’ll put a dollar in the swear jar, I promise.”   
The child shook her head.   
  
“No… It’s christmas. But not again! Okay?”   
  
“Okay, Lian. Promise.”   
Lian nodded firmly, satisfied with the answer.    
And so, show and tell began.    
Lian showed off all her new gifts with great excitement. After than Jason got a bracelet that matched Roy’s, only it read ‘JayJay’ rather than ‘dadi’. Unlike Roy, Jason wouldn’t mind taking it off. He would take it off every day before patrol so that it wouldn’t break, then put it right back on again once he got back home.    
  
They played some game that Lian had gotten, then they watched a movie until Lian couldn’t keep her eyes open anymore. Roy put his daughter to bed and Jason got to clean up after the day. He was glad that he had come back before the family had gone to bed.    
Once the worst mess was put away, he felt how tired he was too. He sighed and took a seat on the couch again, staring at the homescreen of the movie.    
  
While his smile and happiness hadn’t been  _ fake _ tonight, it had still taken an effort not to let negative thoughts invade his space.    
Some childish part of him was jealous of Lian for having such an amazing dad. He sighed deeply and leaned back. His phone buzzed and he glanced at the ID. Immediately he grew uneasy. He picked up.   
  
“Eren. What’s up?”   
  
“ _ Merry Christmas, Jason. _ ” Eren said, sounding happy. “ _ Sorry. Did I wake you? _ ”   
  
“No… No not at all.” Jason cleared his throat. “Merry christmas, Eren. How was your day?”   
  
“ _ It was fine. Granny Gertrude arranged a christmas dinner and Olga attended. Everyone gave her things to give to her cats and I think it was appreciated. She smiled at least. Gary is going to stay with Gertrude tonight. Christmas is hard for him… I think it’s hard for all of us… _ ”   
  
“You included…?” Jason couldn’t help but ask.    
  
“ _ Can’t say I have many good memories of christmas from my youth… What about you? How was your day? _ ”   
  
“It… It was fine. Spent it with a friend and his daughter…”   
  
“ _ You don’t sound thrilled… Wanna talk about it? _ ”   
Jason sighed and looked towards Lian’s room. The light was still on.    
  
“I don’t know… It’s kinda stupid.”   
  
“ _ I can handle stupid. I handle Gary almost every day. _ ”   
They both chuckled a little.    
Then Jason sighed, indicating that his next words weren’t light.   
  
“I think I’m being jealous of a toddler.”   
Eren just hummed questioningly, urging him to explain. “I don’t know… I love the kid, and her dad. But… I don’t know. I just think I’m jealous. Some childish part of me is sad that  _ my _ dad wasn’t as involved, you know? Ugh…” Saying it out loud just made it sound dumber. “Told you it was stupid.”   
  
“ _ I don’t think it’s stupid, Jason. _ ” Eren said, sounding serious. “ _ I can guess that your dad wasn’t father of the year… Look. I- Mmm… You need to take care of your baby Jay, okay Jason? The little you inside of you. You can’t be too harsh on him. _ ”   
  
“I don’t have a personality disorder, Eren.” Jason chuckled.   
  
“ _ I know you don’t. But in my experience, people with troubled childhoods never truly let go of their child selves. We try to protect it. Treasure it. But sometimes we’re too harsh on them… A child’s trauma and reasons for sadness never gets treated seriously. It gets ridiculed. Therefore we don’t really give ourselves time to grieve what we’ve lost. I think you grew up a bit too quickly, Jason. You never allowed yourself to be vulnerable and sad.  _ _  
_ _  
_ “ _ I- Uhm… I have a sister. She’s very fragile, but she tries not to be. Once, at kindergarten, a kid broke her favourite teddy but the teachers told her not to be sad because it was just a toy. It could be replaced. After that she didn’t really let herself get sad when her things broke. She’d tear up, but try to ignore it and move on with her day. It’s worth mentioning that the teddy was one of the few things her grandpa gave her at the time. She treasured it a lot.  _ _  
_ _ For Pandora, that teddy was equivalent of maybe… The teacher’s engagement ring, or… or… I don’t know what people value. An old picture of a lost relative. The only memory left of something lost. You know? _ ”   
Jason hummed.    
He guesses he never really let himself get upset over the small things in life.    
He got plenty upset, but over present things. Not things from his childhood. Before that whole dying thing.    
“ _ Sorry. That… That got a little off track. My  _ point  _ is that you shouldn’t dismiss things from your childhood. Happy or sad things. Not the easiest thing in the world, but it’s good to have with you, you know. O- Sorry, Jason. I have to go. Have a continued nice christmas~! _ ”   
  
“You too, Eren. And thank you. For… That. I think I needed that perspective.”   
  
“ _ You’re very welcome. _ ”    
And then Eren hung up.   
Jason yawned and rubbed his eyes.    
  
“Jason?” Roy asked from behind him. “Cuddle til we sleep?”   
Jason looked at his not boyfriend and smiled.   
  
“You sure know how to treat a man. Movie?”   
Roy nodded and joined his not boyfriend on the couch. They put on a movie and got comfortable.    
Jason fell asleep in Roy’s arms.    
Jason’s not sure how long he was dozed off, but next time he was semi-conscious he heard Roy speaking lowly. Jason barely recognized it.    
  
“ _ Jason…? Are you awake? _ ”   
Jason couldn’t find the energy to respond. He was fairly certain that he was still asleep. He felt like he was asleep at least. Roy hummed and wrapped his arms tighter around Jason’s body. Roy started speaking in a soft, heavenly voice again.   
“ _ Maybe next year… We won’t be ‘not boyfriends’ anymore… Just give me a little more time to gather courage to ask you properly… Obviously I’m a bit of a coward… _ ”   
  
Jason dismissed it as a dream. A nice dream.   
‘ _ Not being not boyfriends anymore…? Now there’s a dream worth having…. _ ’   
  
Jason fell back asleep, believing that Roy’s words were truly nothing more than a wonderful christmas dream. It couldn’t be more, after all.    
‘ _ What about Kori…? _ ’   
Was Jason’s last conscious thought.


End file.
